Fort Sumter Comment Count

Brian

10/11/2008 – Michigan 10, Toledo 13 – 2-4, 1-1 Big Ten

Civil War Battle

Not to turn this column into a running diary about Douchebags of Michigan Stadium, but after Kicking Competency Lopata went a long way towards being just KC again I attempted to bolt from the stadium as fast as possible. I got caught in the inevitable traffic jam a dozen or so rows up from my seats. A couple rows above me, a middle-aged man stood on a bench and booed and booed.

He was angry. I was angry.

I stooped to pick up whatever flingable bit of detritus I could find, seized upon an empty water bottle, and chucked it at the booer. I missed,* lightly damaging an older man a row behind him. But I did get his attention. And the old guy looked like he was on The Other Side, so eff him.

At this point a shouting match ensued. Shouting matches are never like they are on TV—laced with penetrating logical deductions that leave the yelled-at victim incapable of response—so I mostly just told him to shut up like 10 times consecutively.

At some point he actually said "if this bothers you that much there must be something wrong with you," at which point my irony sensors exploded. It was sort of like this minus the laughter:

He did shut up, though, or at least direct his anger somewhere other than the field.

------------------

Anywhere large groups of Michigan fans interact has fallen into civil war, with people like this on one side…

Listen, I just wanted to vent.  I have supported this team this year. 

I supported them when Utah won, I supported them when Illinois blew us out of the frickin stadium.

This, I cannot support.  I am absolutely disgusted with this.

In my opinion, Calvin Mcgee, Rich Rodriguez, and even Mike Barwis, yup, that's right, Mike Barwis, can go back to West Virginia where they came from.

…and bottle-chucking hippies on the other. That email hit my inbox yesterday around noon; I got a few others like that. You can check the increasingly annoying comments here, where virtually every thread descends into a flamewar within five posts.

And I don't get it. If you read this blog and think I will be at all sympathetic to the idea we should get rid of our extremely successful coach after one year (and hire who? and recruit who?) you have reading comprehension issues. If you use the words "unacceptable"—not actually in this email but man have I see that particular word everywhere in the past few days—and "disgusted" because Michigan's confused, young, and physically inadequate offense can't cobble together drives no matter who they go up against, do you realize that the core community of this blog, including the author, kind of loathes you? I am not on your side.

Sports suck sometimes, especially when you care so much about something you control not at all. I assure you that every Michigan fan was angry on Saturday, and every one had second thoughts about this New Era thing. Some of them chose to swallow that anger, and some chose to give it to someone else. What's the adult thing to do? What would those people in hats have done in 1935?

They would have sucked it up. So suck it up, you pansies. It hurts. Act like a man about it.**

Go do something else. This makes you mad. People say Hinterland is pretty good and it's only twenty bucks. Go play that. Go ride a bike. Or hike into the woods and look at the chipmunk-bears. Build 60-foot sculptures out of balsa wood and your shattered hopes. Just get off the goddamn internet.

Come back in fits and spurts and keep whatever connection you want to have with the program but don't hit that post button when the vein on your forehead is sticking out. It's not that important.

And what does "unacceptable" even mean, anyway? Okay, you do not accept the Toledo loss. And now…? You will inform the internet of this? I see. Congratulations. Go away.

*(Yes, I threw the bottle at Tacopants. If I was one of those guys calling for Threet's execution this would be the height of irony.)

**(Women, in my experience, do not have these issues.)

BULLETS:

  • There are also two camps about the defense: 1) they only gave up 6 points (really nine if you count the chip-shot FG Toledo missed) and that should obviously be good enough to beat Toledo. 2) That one guy caught 20 balls and they had something like 350 yards of offense. I lean towards two; the only reason Toledo didn't score more was Zoltan's munificence and some of their own incompetence. Though they figured out how to defend some of the play action rollout stuff late, it shouldn't take 5.5 games to come up with a response to the quarterback exiting the pocket. Too many opposing teams have been able to remove Michigan's defensive line from the game by leaving in blockers or hitting short passes or rolling the pocket, and Michigan's insistence on leaving in a thousand crappy linebackers against spread formations is maddening.

    Scott Shafer was supposed to be an aggressive man-to-man guy, but Michigan this year has seen a ton of zone and a ton of three-man rushes. WTF?
  • Also, on a late third and one Michigan had a three-man line in the game. Toledo ran and made it easily. WTF?
  • The playcalling made a lot more sense once Threet's injury was revealed. Also Threet's horrible first few passes, though the endzone pick six wasn't inaccurate. If Nick Sheridan was in for reasons other than "starter incapacitated" even my enforced patience was going to be tried.
  • No, this offense would not be any better if it was lining up under center every play and running isos. Banish this from your mind. When you have freshmen at quarterback and most of the skill positions and a line with something like 6 even quasi-reasonable options and the lone senior on the two-deep is the third-string tight end, you are going to be awful no matter what offensive philosophy you adopt. There are like two and a half good players on offense.

    And what would that buy Michigan? A Motor City Bowl invite? I'd like to keep the bowl streak—not going to happen—but if the choice is between a crappy December bowl and some increased chance Michigan is great in 2010, I'll take the latter.
  • I think that "pre-hab" stuff is well debunked.
  • Cissoko seemed to do well, though it was tough to tell with all the zone.
  • Zoltan!

Comments

chitownblue (not verified)

October 13th, 2008 at 12:18 PM ^

Squid - I'm not saying you're wrong, but what freshman walk-on was playing at LB? I didn't notice.

The Squid

October 13th, 2008 at 12:35 PM ^

That's precisely why I noticed that Leach was in the game, btw. The TV crew mentioned his name - blah blah blah Kevin Leach blah blah blah - and I immediately sat up and looked him up on mgoblue.com 'cuz, well, that other Leach and all that.

bvanlee

October 13th, 2008 at 12:28 PM ^

I think it is downright disrespectful the way that many Michigan fans conducted themselves this season, especially toward Rich Rodriguez. He and his crew are proven winners that were handed very little offensively when they got here, even for a pro-style offense. On top of that, we experienced some bad luck and saw Mallet and others leave.

We need to give RichRod and his coaching staff a few years of die-hard support before we begin to even think about saying some of the things that are being said. And I hear you Brian, the "adults" are the worst. Last year, these same jaycats were calling for Carr's head and wanted a more interesting coach.

 

I think some Blue fans need to get laid on the quick. As hard as it may be to believe, there are more important things in life than football. Like, perhaps, being voted the 18th best university in the world last week?

GO BLUE, now and forever

BJV

Class of 2001 & 2003

jamiemac

October 13th, 2008 at 12:34 PM ^

....is everyone complaining.....i didn't think it was that bad of a practice against Toledo.

Cissoko emerged as a guy who should play more.....Moundros kept punishing people, showing he'll be a player for the next couple of years......even Minor caught a TD pass (kinda)....all in all a pretty good practice.

Next week's practice in Happy Valley ought to be better since Graham and Warren can play.

ColoradoBlue

October 13th, 2008 at 1:13 PM ^

You somehow articulated what I've wanted to say to "unacceptable" crowd all weekend.  I say again, the stupidity that oozes from the internet after a tough loss is mind-boggling.

Anonymous Coward (not verified)

October 13th, 2008 at 1:20 PM ^

My irony sensors go off when I hear someone who couldn't restrain their violent urge talking about being a man and sucking up their frustration.

 Still, I'm glad you did it.

Also, I agree with you entirely.  Presumably a well-needed post, though I (until now) avoided reading any message boards to avoid the inevitable.

UMaD

October 13th, 2008 at 1:22 PM ^

...when I hear someone who couldn't restrain the urge to resort to violence talking about being a man and sucking up their
frustration.

 Still, I'm glad you did it.

Also, I agree
with you entirely.  Presumably a well-needed post, though I (until now)
avoided reading any message boards to avoid the inevitable.

 -more hippy than you

Anonymous Coward (not verified)

October 13th, 2008 at 1:23 PM ^

This post seems like whining to me... Does it really effect you if fans in the stadium boo?  Getting upset because other people are upset just seems like a chain in stupidity.  

And sure the acceptable word is a little overused but I wonder what Rich-Rod would say if you asked him that question.  I'm not going to call for Rodriguez to get fired and I like everyone else knew this would be a rough year but can't we just agree that losing at home to Toledo is a bit pathetic and just end the conversation there.

magonus

October 13th, 2008 at 1:24 PM ^

It's a little early for that.  We should still beat Minnesotta, Purdue, MSU and Northwestern.  That gets us to 6.  If we can upset OSU or PSU, that's a bowl for sure.

McFate

October 13th, 2008 at 1:52 PM ^

I wouldn't put any money on that proposition.

Going by Sagarin-predictor rating, Purdue (#61) is by far the worst
team remaining on the schedule.  But they're still ranked a ways ahead
of Michigan (#86) and the game is in West Lafayette. Sagarin-predictor has Purdue as an 8-point favorite right now including the home field.  8-point favorites win about 70% of the time.

Minnesota is actually decent.  They won at Illinois this past week,
and while the rest of their schedule has been light, their only loss is
to OSU. Sagarin-predictor says that Minnesota (#31) plus the home
field, is a 16-point favorite over Michigan. A 16-point favorite wins about 86% of the time.

I think Michigan beats Purdue and Northwestern to finish 4-8, but neither of those games is necessarily a "should" win. If I were
pessimistic, I'd say that after two serious beatdowns (Michigan State,
Penn State), the players will have packed it in for the season, and
Purdue wins as well.

2-10 is not out of the question -- right now Sagarin-predictor says that Michigan is at least a touchdown underdog in every remaining game.  However, losing every game is against the odds even when an underdog in every game (just as winning every game is difficult even when favored in every game) because there is only one way to get there.  3-9 or 4-8 is a better prediction.

Kolesar40

October 13th, 2008 at 2:57 PM ^

say "we should beat..." because this year, if nothing else should humble all of us such that we don't expect to beat anyone. How can you say that after we lose to Toledo and Minnesota beats U of Ill? Similarly, as much as it hurts, we should not beat MSU based on what has happened this year. Purdue is on course with us, but they can pick us apart like Toledo. NWU is a toss up as well. Lets stop with the "we should beat" teams talk because we are really bad this year. Reality check.

Don

October 13th, 2008 at 1:34 PM ^

In the alternate universe where Greg Schiano takes the Michigan job and Rodriguez stays at WVU for 2008, Clemson hires RR immediately after the conclusion of the season. WVU fans turn bitterly against Rodriguez.

I have to agree about Schafer's longevity after the season, assuming the defensive performance stays the same. It will be a remarkable thing if RR doesn't succumb to the natural inclination to make somebody on his staff a scapegoat.

Noahdb

October 13th, 2008 at 2:31 PM ^

Clemson wants Lane Kiffin. They hate this offense. They've got four future first-round draft picks on offense and can't move the ball at all. They want to go back to the I-formation.

I'll be interested to see if you guys get involved with Devonte Holloman. He's decommitted from the Tiggers. 

AnthonyC

October 13th, 2008 at 1:39 PM ^

....in a vacuum, it would be understandable to label Saturday's loss as "unacceptable" or "disgraceful".  The issue is with people saying this stuff the day after, after its all sunk in, is that by then you should have had time to look at the bigger picture.  Lets face it, everyone was angry during and immediately after the game, because losing to Toledo is not something people around the Michigan program, as fans, players, coaches, etc, would ever deem as 'acceptable'.  Michigan just lost to one of the worst teams in D-1.  When is the last time that happened?  It was OK to be furious Saturday at 4PM.

Once it sinks in, how could anyone realistically direct their anger towards this year's team?  There are a multitude of problems and freak occurrences that all happened at once and all those things combined have led to the sharp decline of the short-term success of the program, very few of them Rich Rodriguez's or the current players faults.  The problems were deeper than that and more widespread.

Saturday's performance wasn't unacceptable.  The players busted ass and didn't quit.  That makes me proud. If you want to argue that the fact that Michigan lost to Toledo is unacceptable, you might be right, but the blame should not be pointed at these players.   Support them as they put the program back together, and be happy it won't last long.

 

J. Lichty

October 13th, 2008 at 1:45 PM ^

<i>I have to agree about Schafer's longevity after the season, assuming the defensive performance stays the same. It will be a remarkable thing if RR doesn't succumb to the natural inclination to make somebody on his staff a scapegoat.</i>

Shafer will not get canned.  English who was universally loved on this board had bad games with a much more talented defense.

Again, track record must count for something.

Anonymous Coward (not verified)

October 13th, 2008 at 1:52 PM ^

Michigan's performance this season has been unacceptable, In my opinion.

But what does that mean and why is Brian wrong?

Unacceptable means not acceptable or UNSATISFACTORY!

Look it up on google, unacceptable means not pleasing or deserving of disapproval. 

How is Michigan's performance anything but unsatisfactory?

How do they not deserve our disapproval?

Just by textbook definition, unacceptable is exactly the word to describe Michigan's season so far.

 

However, there is another underlying assumption about the word unacceptable,THAT SOMETHING WILL BE DONE ABOUT IT.

What I mean by this is that as fans who have put 100,000 people in the Big House for every game over the last thirty years, we have the right to express our satisfactions and dissatisfactions. We as fans have committed ourselves to making sure that the Michigan Football program have all the facilities and all the monies they need to win. We gave Barwis and Rodriguez a brand new million dollar weight room without flinching. The University is paying a substantial chunk of Rod's debt to WVU also in the millions of dollars. In short, we have given the football program everything it has for and more because they promise us wins.

In return, we have gotten embarrassing losses to Illinois and Toledo and the stark realization that we will probably not go to a bowl game this year.

Given that our season this year is lost, it is already a blemish on Michigan's grand history the only recourse left for fans like me who sit in the student section is to boo.

We Boo so that RRod has nightmares . We Boo so that Mike Barwis cries himself to sleep. We  Boo because we want RRod to spend the next months of his life thinking about nothing but working hard to earn cheers! We want RRod, next summer to remember our boos, our discontent and use that as a motivator to do everything possible to win.We boo so that HighSchool seniors don't look at MIchigan as an easy place to start as a freshman but as a place where only the toughest competitors can survive. We boo so that Godforbid we don't turn into a school like ND  that is complacent in its mediocrity because it can rest on its past laurels and million dollar TV contracts. 

I mean, I have this T-Shirt that say all these stats about Michigan football like over 100,000 attendance, and at the bottom it says 871 wins. Let's face it, we are Michigan fans because we demand excellence and winning, that is the tradition of the school. And it is such a powerful message because everyday people all over Ann Arbor, and the country look to Michigan footballfor hope and inspiration. To do anything but boo or show our disapproval is to look back at all the talk about winning and excellence and say, 'yeah i guess that was just a joke. winning isn't really that important, we were just being assholes the whole time.'

Anyways, I am one of those booers at the big house, and I will continue to boo when we totally suck on the field. 

Im not saying fire RRod or kill everyone.

I am just saying our football team sucks and we have to boo. Of course i think we'll be better next year, and of course I think RRod is a great coach. But let's just be clear. Losing to Toledo is not okay, and we have a host of much better opponents coming up so here is to RRod Barwis and the whole Team putting in the hard work to turn this season around. And in the meanwhile, I am going to boo until I see something on the field that I like.

Anonymous Coward (not verified)

October 13th, 2008 at 1:55 PM ^

My brother, a Michigan alum and fan, directed me here.  More than worth it for Brian's writing, particularly the South Park clip.

The whiners need a dose of reality.  Michigan is the only top D-1 program that has had coaching
continuity for 40-some years with no interruption of recruiting or
coaching regime.  You are indeed fortunate that Moeller flamed out when he did, enabling Lloyd's ascent.

Welcome to reality.

The idea that Michigan is immune from the woes that have
beset Nebraska, tOSU, Notre Dame, USC, Alabama, Texas, LSU, Florida,
etc... as each has attempted to replace longstanding successful
coaches is ludicrous. 

You may indeed suck for a while.  You may have an uptick and then fall.  You may have found your own Earle Bruce and suffer (gasp!) serial 9-3 campaigns and consignment to New Year's Day bowls with noon kickoffs before the pitchfork-wielding boosters drive him out of town in favor of a latter-day John Cooper.  My condolences in advance if so.

Chances are that Rodriguez will build a stable and excellent program.  Goodness knows that UM throws enough cash at the program; it should pay off.  But
it will take a while.  Just be thankful that the conference is as soft as it is this season.  Otherwise the reaming you'd be in for the rest of the way doesn't bear contemplating.  And appreciate you're not in the Domers' shoes yet.  You've got at least three more coaches to go on that count.

Chins up... if you really aspire to the lyrics of your fight song.  And if you hear opposition fans singing derisively "Isn't it great to be a Michigan Wolverine..." as they exit Michigan Stadium having seen their team drub you then perhaps you'll realize how ridiculously you behaved during the "good" times.

stubob

October 13th, 2008 at 2:13 PM ^

Brian, I need to finish the article so bear with me.  I didn't watch
the game out here in Colorado, so I'm going off what highlights I've
seen and what the stats tell me.

1.  Hey, no fumbles!  That's a good start.

2.  Take away Threet's INT in the end zone and 100 yard return for TD
and the score is 17-6.  I justified the ND loss the same way.  Turn
some of the turnover points into positives for us and we look a lot
better. 

3. I disagree with some of the play calling, but if Threet really can't
throw a bubble screen, what can you do?  With a bad QB (or mediocre
freshman QB) and a sieve for an O-line, there's not much you can do. 
Again, how bad is Cone if Sheridan keeps getting PT?

4.  Zoltan is, in fact, from space.  Another +8 yards on punts.

5.   M only went 3+out 3 times.  That tells me the offense is moving, however sporadically.

6.  Lest we forget, RichRod went 3-8 his first year at WVU.  They showed signs of decency against Utah (currently #14), and generally have beaten themselves in most games, rather than getting beaten.  "They're not as bad as their record indicates."

I have not given up hope.  For the future, anyway.  Anything beyond
beating Purdue and Minnesota this season will be gravy, and even if we
lose I don't really care.  Bowls are out of the picture, barring some
huge change of luck.   Scrimage the current games, keep playing like
you can win, and I'll cheer.

mooseman

October 13th, 2008 at 2:21 PM ^

I have always been a lurker on sports message boards. Sometimes you catch some "inside info" get to experience some kick ass schadenfreude, whatever. Usually I get fed up with idiocy and the "my team's collective dick is bigger than your team's collective dick" arguements. My personal favorite is the belittling of the low post count.

When I happened across Brian's site I found some reasoned analysis (some of which I don't always agree with, but I'm no expert), and a core of people with a similar temperment. It does not take long to pick up on the general tone of a blog. I occasionally contribute a few useless comments and enjoy the football and non-football banter.

What I can't figure out is how someone feels the need to come onto a site where they've never really contributed before and who has a mindset and tone that is the polar opposite of the general populace and then start calling out said populace for being the way they are. It seems like going to a synagogue and railing against people for being Jewish. Go take your Christ talk elswhere. Take your "we're Michigan, we're better", "Michigan man",  "this is unacceptable, fire Richrod after 6 game" asses elsewhere. Rivals/scout/ESPN should be right in your wheelhouse.

No one suggests that there will or should always be agreement. Reasoned debate is part of what makes this enjoyable. But when some failed attorney who has never been seen here starts calling people band nerds for being reasonable and some jackass calls gsimms a pussy with a JUCO education, it is just too depressing.

Should I just go ahead and file this in my ever expanding "People Suck" file cabinet and find another way to spend some time?

The Squid

October 13th, 2008 at 2:53 PM ^

It's trolling. Trollers get off on pissing people off and getting them all worked up. They get a sense of power out of being able to manipulate your emotions. The best way to deal with trollers is to ignore them completely. Then they get bored and go away. Of course, that rarely happens in an online community like this because it's inevitable that someone will react to the troll and thus give them the attention that they so crave.

Blue Durham

October 14th, 2008 at 7:30 AM ^

What I can't figure out is how someone feels the need to come onto a
site where they've never really contributed before and who has a
mindset and tone that is the polar opposite of the general populace and
then start calling out said populace for being the way they are.

But what I have found astounding is since the format switch in the summer, there have been a number of people who join and post a diary on the same day, without ever seemly even reading the comments section of this blog in order to get a feel for the tone of the readership. Reading these diaries/boards it is very clear where the comments section is going to go.

Then, after a total public skewering, they are never heard from again (at least under that username). It seems like they think their shit never stinks, they are going to enlighten us with their brilliance, and then pompously post like they are in a rush to completely humiliate themselves.

These gems, when they do happen, are the most entertaining of threads.

 

STW P. Brabbs

October 15th, 2008 at 12:39 PM ^

FWIW, I'm not sure if Brian takes a hardline stance for or against the Michigan Expects More meme.  There are a handful of commenters for whom such an opinion is antithetical to the relativist cool that is the hallmark of all intelligent beings, but I don't remember seeing Brian weigh in decisively.

Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point where if you want to distinguish Michigan from any other program, you're a sappy, reactionary bastard.  Maybe I'm against the flow, but I a) think people who boo college kids are assholes; b) think Rich will be an excellent coach and that god himself couldn't make this offense good; c) believe that Michigan traditions are important and that Michigan has and should continue to hold itself to a high ethical standard; and finally e) not every damn thing about being a sports fan should be subjected to a strict test of rationality, ffs.  At least partially, sports is an emotive, irrational release - some people feel this way about their particular nation-state, I choose to do so regarding my college football team. 

 

And ... this post is done and no one cares, but I feel better. 

Anonymous Coward (not verified)

October 13th, 2008 at 2:17 PM ^

I went to the game on Saturday, and what I found the most unacceptable and disappointing was the crowd.  The players should have been booing us.  I sit in Section 3 and for 90% of the game it was dead quiet.  I don't mean just within a few rows of my seats, I mean as far I could tell, nobody outside of the student section was clapping, talking, mumbling or grumbling at all. The one time it got a loud, the center for Toledo snapped it when the QB wasn't ready and they were lucky that a timeout was given.  After the TO, it got loud again and there was a false start.  Then I think another TO was called, there were a couple incomplete passes and Toledo had to punt.  It is really sad that so many so-called fans can be so quiet. 

wolverienstra

October 13th, 2008 at 2:29 PM ^

Good post, Brian.  I've stopped reading the posts at mgolive.com for the reasons you cite:  just sick & tired of the vitriol-laced idiocy.  If any of those posters claim to be Michigan men, please stop.  Now.  You're not.

Bottom line is that in 21st-century college football, there is not much separating the top-level teams from the mediocre ones, talent-wise, except for ~5-10 play-makers.  On offense this season, we have total of maybe 3 play-makers -- 2 of whom are true freshmen:  Odoms, who was hurt and didn't play Saturday, Mathews, and MacGuffie.  Our O-line is incredibly young & inexperienced; they try hard, gosh-darn it, but they're just not that good (see Notre Dame, 2007).  Then our starting QB, such as he is, goes down to injury in the first half Saturday.  Where did that leave UM?  --Remember the black knight scene in Monte Python's Holy Grail?  On Saturday, we were that knight when he is minus two arms and one leg.  Obviously, you're not going to win many battles that way, even against bad MAC teams.

I'm not thrilled with the approach Shafer took with the D, but again, they only gave up 6 points.  I'm not unhappy with the effort I'm seeing, either.  RichRod wants everyone to be the hammer on the field, rather than the nail, but some of that comes from having confidence and experience in your role on the field, which is still very much a work in progress, as I see it.

This season is a rough one, no doubt.  Keep in mind that most of the guys on the field now will still be here in a couple years, with lots of experience & two more years of eeeeeee Barwis under their belts.  Things will turn around, so let's just suck it up this year and deal with it.

Ninja Football

October 13th, 2008 at 2:55 PM ^

Lordfoul, regarding this:

  This defense was expected to be pinning its ears back and rushing the
passer while playing tight man coverage.  We haven't seen much of that.

I'm thinking the reason we can't pin our ears back is because of the quality of linebacking/safety play. If we brought the house every play and played man on the cornersteams would pick us apart with passes across the middle.  Our LB talent is just not capable of covering anyone at this point. 

Brian,

You know my opinion. Everyone know my opinion.  I just wish we could start branding these people.

KRK

October 13th, 2008 at 3:29 PM ^

"May those who love us, love us.  May those who hate us, may God turn their hearts.  If he can't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we can tell them by their limping."

I say we get some baseball bats and start turning ankles.  Or "hearts" if you want to be a pussy about it.

Anonymous Coward (not verified)

October 13th, 2008 at 2:58 PM ^

The three things I'm very concerned with:

A) We appear to be getting worse from week to week,

B) Simple execution errors that good coaching should be able to fix, and

C) The spread scares me for its crack like dependance on a good QB. Yes, if Michigan is uber in '10 that would be great, but they are one banged up QB from Oregon like plummets.

 

Jim

Anonymous Coward (not verified)

October 13th, 2008 at 3:25 PM ^

You know, watching this team for the past six weeks two things have occured to me. One, this whole team is YOUNG. Young and inexperienced and learning a whole new way to play football. Watching these games with really any expectations of success is begging for disappointment. I look at this entire season as a series of scrimmages. These are just practice games in a practice season. Watch with that in mind and it's much less painful.

Two, there are fans and teams that go through this kind of season every year. Thinking of the reverse, Toledo, while somewhat successful, has had some terrible years. But there are actually fans that stick with them throughout.

For what it's worth, I've been a Michigan fan since birth but I'm from Toledo so for me Saturday's loss was more grimly amusing than outrageous. As many OSU fans once chanted annually, "It's a rebuilding year."

ToledoWolverine

October 13th, 2008 at 3:36 PM ^

I have been reading this blog for some time and I find Brian's (and most of the regulars) ideas to be on par with my own. I only recently created my user name so that I could attempt to contribute to the discussion. That being said, I could not have F'd up my choice more if I tried and had help. Should I (can I) pick a new one? I live in Toledo and actually (ashamed to say) am still a current student at UT. I lacked the academic drive and financial support to attend the school that I have loved since I was 7 years old (the helmets had me at hello). My Step dad is a professor at UT and I have been a student since 1996 so its safe to say that I have my finger on the pulse of the school. (as an aside one of my sisters best friends is Amstutz's daughter) Anyways the point I am attempting to make is that this is the biggest win in the programs history, and it saved their coaches ass. That by beating a Michigan team that we all know is....less than stellar, constitutes the biggest win in anyones program speaks volumes about our own.

What expectations did any of these nay-sayers have coming into this season? That Michigan would pull out 9 wins and we would all watch the Capital One bowl as the Maize and Blue put it to their latest SEC victims? Anyone that has a clue about this team knew we were going to be shitty. So who really gives a shit if we lost to Toledo, its not as if our Rose Bowl dreams just went up in smoke. Lets hope these losses however uncharacteristic, in some way stoke the competitive fires in those boys that are playing their asses off and help turn them into the Men that will destroy the Big 10 in the coming years. 

 

mth822

October 13th, 2008 at 3:42 PM ^

Thats a huge W for Toledo. Not everyone can coach or play at a Michigan. To beat a team like that is huge. Sometimes I think the Michigan players, once they enroll, forget that. You really learn to value things when youre on the other side of the wall. When youre on the inside you tend to just take things for granted. I think that is the real problem at Michigan now. It is not RR, it is the mental drive. Barwis has the physical but it takes even more mentally. I think Michigan is filled with rationalizations as to why they are losing. The players that is. The reality though is that they are losing and are losers in many regards. It's really strage how much a team can change when they accept that it was them who lost the game. The word loser is a tough pill to swallow and I don't yet think Michigans players see themselves as part of the losing equation. If they get blown out on the road in Happey Valley, I think then it'll hit them you know. That wow hey, were really crap and the losers. 

Go Blue Toledo

October 13th, 2008 at 5:36 PM ^

I am a Toledo Grad and I strongly disagree that this is Toledo's biggest win in school history.  I was in Ann Arbor saturday and witnessed this joke of a game.  I was cheering for Michigan because we needed this win to continue the consecutive bowl streak, SEE YA, but it was great to see the Toledo players celebrating with the students who made the trip after the game.

 However, I was at the Toledo vs Pitt game in 2003. And that is hands-down the biggest win in school history.  That game had a momumental impact on both programs.  Pitt comes in at #9...when is the last time that Pitt has been ranked in the top 20 since then?  There coach got fired a few years later.  This win may have saved Toledo Tom's job, maybe, but who really cares... he sucks.  He is a poor man with AIDS version of Les Miles.  This Michigan is awful, the worst in Michigan history.   Beating Pitt was the greatest win in school history.

 

Go Blue...in 2010

jamiemac

October 13th, 2008 at 6:16 PM ^

......my 2 cents....the Pitt game was awesome, Glass Bowl rocking and all that.

But, I go with the in at Penn St in 2000. Talk about coming out of nowhere. Season opener. I dont know if the program had a bigger win than this.......of course, we all are overlooking all those unbeaten teams in the 1970s.....they might have had bigger wins....i dont know.

Aequitas

October 13th, 2008 at 3:37 PM ^

More shameful than anything that's taken place on the field this year, is what's taken place in the stands, message boards and all across Michigan.  Rodriguez was clearly a top 10 coach before he "committed" to Michigan.  What did our fans do from the beginning?

"He's no Les Miles."

"Carr wasn't that bad after all."

Well no shit.  But how about supporting the current coach?  Who do these fans think they are?  Not one of the grey-haired, fat-asses went through Barwis Bootcamp or even a single practice.  You think these kids aren't trying?  You think YOUR ass is hurting after a loss?  Suck it up you band-waggoning spoiled ass fucks.

Better yet.  Sparty is poised to have a nice season.  Why don't you take your unsupportive asses over to East Lansing and get the hell away from MY team. I'm fucking ashamed of you.  I'm ashamed of your quiet sad stares from the stands in what should be an incredibly intimidating place to play.  I'm tired of reading posts on MLive that you claim to have spurred the team onto victory against Wisconsin because of your boos.  No shit?  Well, can you even imagine how well they'd played had you used your special powers to actually cheer FOR them when they needed you?

I'm sick and disappointed this year. But it's not because our fucking AD was sailing and screwed up the Miles hire.  It's not because RR was handed a team decimated by draft, cowards and traitors.  It's because "our" fans, fans that claim to "bleed Maize and Blue" can't find a way to support something bigger than themselves.  They'd rather slice and dice a team full of hard-working kids; they'd rather sit behind their computer monitors and rip otherwise successful coaches.

Brian, I'm glad you said what you did.  I'm glad you did what you did.

"This too shall pass."

 Go BLUE!

caup

October 13th, 2008 at 3:47 PM ^

It's become evident that some of the veteran players are simply mediocre (or in some cases, worse than mediocre).  Stewart, Trent, both Browns, Thompson, Clemons, Savoy, Minor, Grady. These guys make mental errors, react slowly, and miss tackles, fumble, drop passes, or don't see the holes to run through. Repeatedly.  But don't hate them because of it. They're trying their asses off. They're simply not that good.  Okay, so as fans we need to be patient and wait for the next Harrises, Woodsons, Harts, Edwardses, and Longs to walk through that door. Because at Michigan, those next great players ARE going to walk through that door.